Eyes On The Prize

30| Riley

"Everyone is going to the Café later if you want to join us?" Thalia offered a week later. Things hadn't improved at all, in fact it's a daily routine of trying to time it so I either get home before the gang come over or after they've gone or have fallen asleep
It's a known fact at this point that there is only really an issue with three of the boys. Even though Michelle and West knew about it all, they tried to get the boys to not do it, to talk them out of it or at least get them to tell me
Eldon, Hunter and James made their beds so now they need to sleep in it 

"That's okay Thal, I'll be there with my family anyway" I explained
"You're seeing them a lot more lately, is everything okay?" Thalia asked making me nod
"Emily's wedding is coming closer and there is still a ton left to do" I shrugged 

That wasn't a lie but it also wasn't the entire truth, we'll discuss the wedding tonight but in reality I was the one who called this dinner. I was running out of excuses as to why I can't hang out
Thalia and Michelle will try their best to get me to linger a little longer then needed but I hate it

It feels like I'm walking around on egg shells and I don't want that,  I don't want to have to avoid them but at the same time I can't look at them without feeling this sense of betrayal
I didn't ask to be apart of their revenge, I was happily blissfully ignorant to what was going on
The only benefit to this is it exposed who Spencer really was 
But I have a feeling that factor would have come to light eventually anyway

"you know where we are if you do want to join though okay? We'll happily kick the boys to the curb for you" She said offering me a small smile before heading out the door with her bag in hand 
I'd noticed more often then not Thalia was with the gang, I don't blame her. I would be doing the same thing if it wasn't for this situation 

This isn't how the College experience was supposed to go at all, at the start of the year I had a 4 year long relationship with someone who was picture perfect to the social ladder, I had a set plan for my future
And now, I'm single, dual majoring and stuck between two ideas. I'm not longer the same social butterfly my parents raised
Now I'm this shy hidden girl who doesn't want to be in the eye sight of anyone lately 

--

I ended up cancelling dinner tonight, I'm sure the family will still go but after some reflection time I found myself a spot in the living room watching the sunset out of the window
It was peaceful, the first sight of peace since all of this started

But of course that was shortly interrupted by a soft knock at the front door. I had no idea who it could have possibly been since the gang is with Thalia in the café, it wasn't going to be Em or Will either 
Regardless, I got up off of the sofa walking over to the door looking through the peephole before furrowing my brows opening the door

"Brody? What are you doing here?" I asked instantly letting him in
"I'm sorry for barging in like this I-" He started before cutting himself off
"you don't need to apologise, you're always welcome" I said guiding him over to the sofa

At the beginning Brody and I got off to the wrong foot it would seem and I'm not sure why but there was a part of me that understood it, I'm the type of person who hates change as much as the next person 
But in the few days I was able to really talk to Brody it was a nice shift in his demeanour to me

"I just wanted to know if you were okay" He said sitting next to me on the sofa, I turned to look at him a little confused
"I know what James did, I know about the game and I told him to tell you. He told me he would tell you" He muttered 

"What happened between your brother and I is just that Brody, it's between your brother and I okay? there is no hard feeling towards you, towards Piper. I would still love to see you guys around" I explained
"Even though it didn't work?" Brody asked
"I didn't realise I had to be with your brother in order to earn your attention mister" I said nudging him earning a chuckle

"I hate what he did, I really do" Brody said looking up at me
"Don't be too mad at him okay? Everyone is allowed to make a mistake here and there, this will be something he can learn from in the future" I explained but Brody sighed
"But it was a mistake that should never have happened. We'd seen what lies and secrets do to relationships but he still did it" Brody said making me furrow my brows

"What do you mean?" I asked
"James and I watched our parents constantly fall out over lies Dad told or secrets Mum kept. It was toxic, when we were old enough to understand it James and I both made a swear that we would never lie or keep secrets from someone we love" Brody continued to explain
"He broke that pact the moment he did this to you, I gave him the chance to make it right and he didn't" He continued 
"I'm so freaking angry at him that I can barely stand to look at him, it was a swear.. He'd never broken one before" He whispered 

I looked at him and could clearly see the this tough boy exterior was cracking fast, this hadn't been just about what James did to me, it was a promise he made to his little brother. He didn't just break my heart, he broke a lot of others too 

"Now you're not around, Piper thinks you hate her, she thinks that if you saw her in the street you wouldn't want to speak to her. She thinks it's all her fault for inviting you to the pier" Brody said making me sigh looking at him 
"She does?" I asked
"Piper gets attached easily and I think from the first time she saw you in the court yard, she was attached to you" Brody said offering me a smile

"Well please try and tell her that this wasn't her fault and I am in no way blaming her. I also want you both to know if you see me and don't come and say Hi, I'll be incredibly offended" I said earning a chuckle from him before he turned back towards me

"You never answered my question" He reminded me
"Which one?" I asked
"Are you okay? Like really okay?" Brody asked

"I'll get there, but it'll be a long road" I answered offering him a short smile

"That's alright, you can take it one step at a time" He answered before I pulled him into another hug